


A Welcome Friend

by htbthomas



Category: Belsomra "Cats and Dogs" Commercial
Genre: Cute, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, POV Animal, Yuletide 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-24
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-08 05:40:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5485649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/htbthomas/pseuds/htbthomas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wake yelps as all ten pounds of Sleep lands on her back. Hey! But it’s a happy ‘hey.’ Sleep wants to play! Sleep’s white fuzzy tail disappears around a corner and the chase is on!</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Welcome Friend

**Author's Note:**

  * For [boingboing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/boingboing/gifts).



> I loved this [commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kMzVNnv78w), too, boingboing. Thanks for your request!
> 
> And thanks to my beta, LadySilver, as always.

Wake lifts her head. She heard something. Something in the bedroom made a noise. It did. Wake whines softly. 

The Lady lets out a gentle snore and turns over. Sleep lifts her head, yellow eyes shining in the moonlight. She stares at Wake for a minute, maybe two, then she settles back down, curling into The Lady’s arms.

It was nothing. Sleep would be hiding if something was wrong. Wake lowers her head and burrows into the side of her bed again.

* * *

Morning! The Lady is awake! Breakfast time!

Sleep wanders in behind Wake, who is already chowing down on her food. Sleep meows—her water bowl is already too low. Wake was thirsty and her bowl was dry already. She drinks some more before The Lady takes it away to rinse and refill it. 

When The Lady replaces the bowl, Wake noses it in interest, but Sleep is having none of that. She bops Wake’s nose with a paw, hard. But no claws. Wake lets out a tiny disappointed growl and backs away. 

“Time to get the paper!” The Lady calls. “Come here, girl!” 

The paper! The best part of the morning! The grass, the flowers, the trees! The neighbor’s dog! But she feels bad for drinking Sleep’s water. Maybe Sleep would like to come? 

Sleep! Come outside with me!

“Oh, leave that poor cat alone,” The Lady says.

Wake whines. Sleep would like it out there. But Sleep doesn’t think so. She turns and walks away, her tail curling this way and that as she leaves the kitchen.

Oh, well, she tried. Is that the neighbor’s dog out there? Coming! Coming!

* * *

One ear lifts. That was something. It was. It was!

The Lady groans. “It’s nighttime, girl. Shhh.”

But it was. She stands and shakes off, the sound loud in the quiet house. Then she trots over to the bed. Did Sleep hear anything? She lifts up on two legs to check. 

Sleep cracks an eye and stretches languidly. Her tail swishes across Wake’s paws, making the pads twitch at the contact. Then she yawns, teeth glinting, tongue stretching out. Her eyes close again. There’s no danger, not in Sleep’s opinion.

Wake scuttles back to her bed and lies back down. No danger, eh? She’ll see. But Wake’s eyes close, too, after awhile.

* * *

Sleep lies on the floor, head down on crossed paws. It’s so boring when The Lady isn’t home. All Sleep wants to do is nap in the sunny spot in the hallway. All day. She only moves when the sun does. 

Wake tried that one day. The sun felt warm on her back, on her face. It was nice. But lying so still for so long didn’t seem natural. She wanted to get up and play! 

But sigh, it looks like another slow day with nothing to do but chew on the stuffed turtle. She will need a new stuffed toy soon. Or maybe that pillow…

_Pounce!_

Wake yelps as all ten pounds of Sleep lands on her back. Hey! But it’s a happy ‘hey.’ Sleep wants to play! Sleep’s white fuzzy tail disappears around a corner and the chase is on!

Wake hears Sleep’s claws ticking on the hardwood floor as she runs, Wake galloping after. I’ll get you, Sleep! You can’t hide! Wake slides into the next room, coming to a stop on a throw rug. Where is Sleep? 

Wake sniffs the air, angles her ear one direction, then another. It’s quiet, only the sound of cars passing outside and birds in the trees in the yard. She looks all around, under the table, behind the bookcase, on top of the—

She’s on the buffet, next to The Lady’s vase. There are flowers in the vase, fresh ones from this morning. She remembers how much she liked the smell. Maybe the taste is good, too, but The Lady scolded her with a stern, “No.”

Wake jumps. The buffet is too high. How do you get up there, Sleep! Is it magic! Teach me!

Sleep stands there, aloof. The only thing that moves is the last inch of her tail. Maybe Wake can reach that…

She jumps. There! Sleep yowls, leaping out of reach, and the vase comes crashing down to the floor, shattering and scattering its contents across the hardwood. Wake howls in surprise and runs away as quickly as possible. She cowers behind the curtains. The game is over.

But later, she tastes the flowers. They do not taste as good as they smell.

* * *

Wake stiffens all over. That was a sound! A crash like the dreams she’s been having of glass flying everywhere. She stands, looking around for the threat. In the darkness, she can’t see very much, or hear anything close, just someone moving around on the other side of the house. She lifts onto her hind legs to look at the bed. Sleep is gone. The Lady is gone.

Wake listens again. She relaxes. The shuffling sounds are The Lady’s feet. She is… in the kitchen. Maybe there will be a treat! She trots down the stairs and into the kitchen, where The Lady is crouching to clean up glass from the floor. What happened! she asks, but softly.

“Hi, girl, did I wake you? I just wanted a glass of water, and…” The Lady chuckles. “Looks like we’re both clumsy, huh?” She reaches over to scratch Wake behind the ears. “Sorry I yelled at you earlier.”

Wake wags her tail happily. Did she yell? Wake doesn’t remember. Sleep’s been hiding since the vase incident. The Lady finishes cleaning up and gets herself another glass, then she goes to sit on the couch. She turns on the TV, and pats the cushions next to her leg. “Come here, girl, keep me company.” 

Wake likes these sleepless nights. She curls up beside The Lady and lets the ear scratches lull her into boneless contentment.

* * *

Time for a walk! Wake bounces around The Lady, who is sipping coffee at the table. She looks tired. But doesn’t she know it’s time for a walk!?

“I know, I know, girl, in a minute,” The Lady says, patting Wake on the head. She turns her attention to the still-full bowl of cat food. “Have you seen the cat anywhere?”

Wake tilts her head and listens. No meows. No purring. No scratching. She sniffs the air. The cat is all around, but nowhere close. No!

The Lady sighs. “She’ll come out soon.” She rises slowly from her chair, gripping the back for support. “Let’s get your leash.”

Yes! Yes! Time for a walk! As they leave the house, she runs into the yard, turning back to look in the window for Sleep, where she usually watches. She isn’t there.

They come back soon. Too soon! But where is Sleep! Wake puts her nose to the ground in the last place she saw the cat, in the dining room. Sleep’s trail criss-crosses the floor, but Wake picks up the strongest one. She follows it up the stairs, to the attic, to Sleep’s favorite musty chair. She can smell Sleep there, a recent smell. The smell leads away to a pile of boxes. It is too high! If you are up there, Sleep, come down! Come play!

No movement. No sound. Wake whines and flops on the floor.

Out of the corner of her eye she sees a piece of rope, chewed and bitten on the ends. Yes, a toy! Old, but still good! Wake takes it between her teeth and begins to worry at it, bringing up tastes and smells of years gone by. So good, so good.

The rope pulls taut. Wake’s eyes shoot to the other end of the rope. It’s Sleep! She grabs the other end of the rope in her teeth and pulls. The rope flies out of Wake’s mouth and the end drags a wet track across the dust on the floor as Sleep pulls it. Wake tongue lolls out. She’s back. She wants to play.

That’s mine, Sleep!

Sleep runs, Wake following close. The rope is always just out of reach. Except when she catches it. But Sleep steals it back again. That’s the best part.

* * *

Wake jumps up, tail shivering with anxiety. She heard a creak this time, or a footstep, or a scrape. She will be brave, no threat will touch The Lady. She stands that way for a long time, long enough for the moonlight passing through the blinds to move on the floor.

The threat is patient. So Wake must be patient. She cannot sleep until—

Sleep jumps to the floor lightly, padding over to Wake. She watches Wake for a moment and then comes close enough to rub her head against Wake’s cheek, purring. Her whiskers tickle and Wake wants to sneeze, but that would alert the threat. Sleep steps inside the bed, giving Wake a full-body rub this time. It feels… good. It calms her.

She settles down, and Sleep settles beside her, tucking her head up under Wake’s. Wake’s eyes close. She doesn’t hear anything else the rest of the night, except Sleep’s purring.


End file.
